


Milestones

by Mr_K_chan



Series: The Path of the Arcane is a long Road [2]
Category: Persona 3, Persona 4, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2
Genre: Canon Compliant, Crossover, Family, Gen, Kid Fic, M/M, Post-Canon, Pre-Canon, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-07
Updated: 2016-02-12
Packaged: 2018-03-16 17:55:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3497513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mr_K_chan/pseuds/Mr_K_chan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pre SMT:DS2 and Post P3/P4. The important parts of their lives are marked as precious stones.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sapphires are for the Blues

**Author's Note:**

> We now interrupt your regular programming for some P3/P4+DeSu2 trash. I just couldn't resist making DS2's protagonist as Protagshipping's love-child. Unbetad as usual. Drop me a line or kudos if you liked it!

The first time Souji laid eyes on the boy was right after the accident.

He was brought into the station at three in the morning, just a few hours before he gets off his shift. He was unharmed, save for a few scrapes and bruises, but he was silent. 

Trauma from the car crash, the other officers had said. Souji understands perfectly well; both the child's parents had died, after all.

No matter how anyone tries to talk to the boy, he refuses to answer.

Eventually, Souji decides to take the kid home; something in him rebelled at the thought of leaving the boy to sleep in a cell or one of the couches in the station. His boss looked none too happy with his choice, but let him fill out the paperwork.

The ride home was entirely awkward, even with Souji attempting to fill the air with mindless chatter.

He lets the boy sleep on his spare futon after a simple dinner of miso soup and leftover tamagoyaki, wrapped in clothes too big for him—Yu had unearthed a couple of clothes from his early college days from the bottom of his closet. The kid took it all in stride, letting him shower him and help him brush his teeth in stony silence.

It wasn't until they actually fell asleep that he started making noises.

Souji was familiar with nightmares; he often got them when he was younger and especially during those nights of that tense year during his youth when killers roamed and goddesses turned the wheels of fate behind the scenes. He often awoke in a cold sweet, heart pounding in his ears as his eyes looked around for an enemy he cannot see.

It wasn't a huge sacrifice on his part to let the kid sleep beside him on his bed after he bolted up in a whimpering mess. Thankfully, he slept better after that.

One night turned to three as the police attempted to search for any of the boy's relatives. It became a month when nothing turned up.

Before Souji knew it, he was his unofficial foster parent until further notice.

The futon was put away when the boy continued to sleep in his bed. Breakfasts and lunches and dinners became more creative as Souji attempts to connect with and impress the child through perfectly made omurice and cute carrot flowers. The bottom drawer in his dresser was emptied and filled with completely different clothes. A stuffed bunny made his living room its home, its grey glass eyes and floppy blue ears greeting them whenever they get home.

Sometimes he wondered if he was making the right decision of letting the boy stay with him instead of going to an orphanage where he could get adopted.

All of his doubts were forgotten when blue, blue eyes looked up at him one day and said: "…I'm Hibiki. Thanks for letting me stay."


	2. Sardonyx is for the Lonely

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Minato gains another visitor to his prison and weeps for their future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, sudden writer's block. I hate you so.
> 
> Unbetad. Please point out any mistakes I made. 
> 
> Kudos are love, comments are life! Feel free to feed my starving soul.

The first time Minato met Hibiki was half a year after the incident.

He had been surprised when Souji came into his Room between the worlds accompanied by a tiny guest, his sleeve held by a small hand. Blue eyes peered out from behind the tall man's legs, peering up at the man before darting back to him. Souji reached down to card his hand through thick black curls.

This is my friend, he had said. You can trust him.

Minato smiled at the boy, amused when the child attempted to hide behind Souji even more. The dark-haired man remarks about his shyness, the other confirms his thoughts.

He quickly warmed up to him after a slice of cake and hot sweet tea, however.

Hibiki quietly insisted on sitting in his lap for the rest of their visit, peering interestedly at the cards he places on the table. The child observes him intently as he lays out each spread, reading into the futures cast into the sea of souls.

The young brunette picks up a card—the Three of Swords—in his hands, and Minato sees him, his past and the paths his small feet would be forced to take.

It's too much, his heart wails. He has experienced enough suffering, don't make him suffer more.

He keeps it to himself until Souji had taken the boy home. Hibiki kept looking over his shoulder until the door had separated them.

The knowledge weighed heavily on his conscience, steadily growing heavier with every passing breath. Minato laments his lot silently and wishes fervently.

He feels his heart break with each visit as Souji let him babysit Hibiki while he went to work. He feels his soul rail against the injustice of it all with every hopeful glance of those blue eyes.

In this moment, he feels the world crush his ageless shoulders in layers upon layers of regret and heartache and pain and makes a decision.

I will protect this star, he vows as Hibiki sat in his lap, tracing the spider-like scars crisscrossing his arms with curious fingers. 

Minato has given himself up for the salvation of the world; for this dark-haired, blue-eyed angel, he will give up even more.

The threat of being eternally forgotten is not enough to dissuade him from carrying this cross if it meant preserving the innocence in that smile.


	3. Topazes are for (Unhelpful) Friends and (Aggravating) Lovers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Souji and Hibiki go out to enjoy the flowers and come home with heartache.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based on Brian A. Klems' writing prompt 'The Fortune (Or Not)'. His prompts are here: http://www.writersdigest.com/prompts
> 
> Explanations about certain things are in the bottom notes.
> 
> Comments and kudos are love!

"I want that one! I want that one!" Hibiki jumps, his shoes making squeaking noises on the sidewalk.

Souji held the boy's hand, amusement shining on his face as he watched Hibiki press his nose against a shop's display case. 

His boss has allowed him to take the day off for Hanami, and his charge had begged him to go on a picnic to enjoy the flowers once he found out. Souji agrees after a lengthy session of pleading and cajoling, provided that Hibiki stayed close to him at all times and behaved himself.

Souji decides that Hibiki was the model of a well-behaved little boy even though he had all but plastered his face against the candy shop's window. He leans down to tap his shoulder to remind him that they had sakuramochi and taorizakura in their food bag, and that he'll ruin his appetite if they ate something sweet now.

The pout sent up to him was the most adorable thing he'd ever seen. Souji had to steel himself against its charm while fighting the urge to reach for his phone to take a shot.

There were no other incidents along the way as they walked down the road to the viewing grounds. Hibiki squeezed his hand, humming under his breath as his wide blue eyes took everything in. 

Yosuke and the others were already waiting for the two of them, food laid out on the assortment of blankets they had spread out on the grass. Hibiki shied away from them initially, but easily opened up at the generally friendly atmosphere and the promise of an amigurumi from Kanji.

The girls immediately had taken a shine to the young child, Rise cooing at his rounded cheeks and wide blue eyes. Teddie reached into the box Souji brought with them for one of the pretty namagashi he and Hibiki had made earlier in the morning, sobbing about youth and how his Sensei is now starting a family of his own.

Somehow, it devolved into the entire Investigation Team picking fun at Souji's love life.

Chie wondered if Hibiki was Souji's biological child born out of wedlock.

Yukiko and Rise speculated on who his girlfriend would be.

Naoto shot down their theories each and every time.

The boys generally laughed and snickered and offered unhelpful commentary at the side. Souji scowls at them and says Hibiki is quasi-adopted, he already has a lover, and no, it wasn't a woman, can they please let it go already?

It only served to provoke the others into prying even more.

Hibiki remains blissfully ignorant of it all, much more interested at the pile of takoyaki that Chie had brought.

The discussion stopped when Margaret—who had come along with Teddie at his request bringing gyokuro for the picnic—offered to do tasseography for them. Hibiki stared with the same fascination he spares Minato with his cards as Margaret prepares the tea, pouring it leaves and all into their respective cups.

After the tea was drunk and the dregs swilled around before pouring the excess liquid away, Margaret asks them to peer into the cups and tell her whatever shape was left by the leaves in the bottom and sides.

Birds. Hearts. A tiny cross in Teddie's cup. An odd mass of squiggles in Kanji's. 

The most worrying symbols were the ones found in Hibiki's, however.

Margaret frowns at the contents. The soggy leaves had formed a dark weblike trail of leaves that end up in a pile at the bottom. A spot of white was the only visible mark on the upper half of the cup that was smeared in a dark green smattering of tea leaves.

She puts it down slowly, closing her eyes briefly before staring up at Souji with a solemn expression. The entire group hushes with bated breath as she says her prediction:

"The Fates' good blessing shall be the boy's happiness, but the paths he will take shall put on his shoulders a mountain of sorrows."

 

Souji brought it up with Minato the next time they were able to visit.

The older man only shrugs over his cup of Turkish coffee, and tells him that he already knew. He then proceeds to explain it all in great detail, with each word and scenario growing heavier and bleaker the more he elaborated on the futures he had seen all those weeks ago.

Needless to say, Souji was furious.

He walks out of the Velvet Room with Hibiki in tow, the boy crying in protest as he was dragged away. Minato did nothing to hold them back.

He ignores the little pang of hurt in his heart, wondering how he and Minato devolved from being a unit into separate halves. 

Souji refused to go back to see him for a long time afterwards, and no pleading or bribes or cajoling from Hibiki made him change his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hanami: Flower-Viewing Festival or Cherry Blossom Festival. Usually celebrated at late March to early May.
> 
> Sakuramochi: a kind of wagashi (traditional Japanese sweet) served during spring and hina-matsuri (Doll Festival or Girls' Festival). Popular during Hanami, this sweet is a pink mochi with sweet azuki bean filling that is wrapped with a picked sakura leaf.
> 
> Taorizakura: Translates as 'hand-cut cherry blossoms', this is a kind of wagashi popular in springtime. Pressed and coloured into the shape of sakura blossoms, this sweet is made with wheat flour and white bean paste filling.
> 
> Namagashi: a classification of wagashi. Known as fresh, moist, or raw wagashi. Tends to be eaten earlier because the high moisture content causes it to spoil faster.
> 
> Amigurumi: crocheted dolls made in the shape of animals.
> 
> Takoyaki: dumplings with octopus filling.
> 
> Gyokuro: a brew of green tea. Gyokuro (Jade Dew) pertains to tea with quality higher than sencha, which is tea grown in the shade for 20 days before being picked. It is named due to its pale green infusion, which is generally sweeter than sencha.
> 
> Tasseography: also known as tasseomancy or tassology. Is the process of divination using the patterns left behind by tea leaves or coffee grounds at the bottom and sides of a cup. 
> 
> Topazes are Hibiki's birthstone, being born in July. Yay!
> 
> Long PS is long.


	4. Bloodstones are for Secrets (to be taken to the grave)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who in this world of ours their eyes  
> In March first open shall be wise,  
> In days of peril firm and brave,  
> And wear a bloodstone to their grave.  
> —Gregorian Birthstone Poems
> 
> Minato receives an unusual guest, and his request leads him to come to some conclusions about himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, my heart. Stop making angsty stuff and go study about the wonderful, wonderful world of cardiac diseases instead. I heard that Kawasaki is infinitely more interesting than this baloney you spat out.
> 
> …I don think it worked.
> 
> Also, yes, I do this to my tarot cards. People find it weird, and it's kinda funny to explain to them that it was their original purpose. After all, just remove the major arcana and the knights, and you get a full playing deck! Yay!
> 
> Unbetaed as usual. Tell me how it goes!

Minato's most current notable encounter with himself was a month after his fight with Souji.

His other self looked the same. Same coat, same hair, same face. When their eyes met, however, the similarity ends.

Minato wonders just what had his other self seen to gain eyes as dull as his. He then wonders if Souji sees the same when he looks at him.

He smiles as pleasantly as he could, offering him coffee. His other self smiled and shook his head, declining.

No need to play a good host, he says. He will not stay long, anyway. 

Minato nods, his smile turning a little sad. The cups sat unused between them on the table.

"Can you please do me a favour?" His mirror asks. "I would like a reading to be performed for me, if that is alright with you."

Minato steeples his fingers, watching his other across the table and tries to make sense of the unusual request. He sighs, nodding to himself as he sat up.

"I don't think fortune telling works that way, my friend."

"It's alright, I think," The other replies calmly. "You and I aren't the same person, after all."

He peers closer at him, taking note of the air around him. The desperation clinging to him was palpable, and it tasted bitter on his senses.

Just what had the other lost in order for him to unravel this much?

"…Please," The other finally says softly, and Minato knew that he was found out. "The only one I know who could help me is you."

He closes his eyes, and reaches for the cards.

He watches the spread between the two of them, three cards laid down. Zero and twenty-first flank an upside-down fifth. Chaos and nightmares blur the lines between transcendence and confusion. Another spread is laid down. The three of swords sat side by side with the eight of swords and the page of swords. Caution given in taking the challenge of mending a breaking heart.

Both of them eye the cards put out in a semi-circle. Minato purses his lips as he offers the third cut of cards to the other man, watching as he reached out to slide off the top card with barely trembling fingers.

Minato nearly sits up to offer his guest a handkerchief when the other started to sob quietly. The cup at the other side of the table catches some of the tears that dripped down his narrow chin.

It is at this time where Souji enters the Room, Hibiki clinging to his hand and trotting after him like a little shadow.

Minato watches the officer hesitate by the door, Hibiki walking up to his guest to wipe ineffectually at his calm face with his tiny hands. His other takes this all in stride, allowing the boy to coddle and coo at him.

Souji comes to his senses and walks over to gently tug his charge away. His guest's smile was painful to watch as he brushed Souji's apologies off with a wave of his hand. He left afterwards with a murmur of thanks, leaving the three of them in relative silence. His card lays face down on the table and a curious Hibiki picks it up. Minato fights not to laugh when the boy asks what the thirteenth card means and tells him it's exactly what it is on the tin.

He watches Souji settle on the vacated chair as he swaps their cups. The blonde sends him a questioning look and he only smiles, pouring him a cup of coffee and allowing Hibiki to settle in his lap.

In the span of that moment, he knew that Souji had forgiven him.

His lover frowns as he gathers the cards and puts them back together. The boy amuses himself with the discarded numbers and knights he sets aside from the deck. Souji makes a comment about how tarot cards aren't meant for these kinds of things, to which he smoothly replies that people are horribly, horribly biased with old things, and if he wanted to play go-fish with his deck, it was his decision. Hibiki slides off his lap and pulls himself up another chair as he excitedly babbles about card games.

Minato watches Souji try and fail at bull, Hibiki all too gleefully pointing out that the older man couldn't lie to save his life.

When the two of them left for the night and peppered his cheeks with parting kisses, he thinks about his guest and his request and the tears still settled in the bottom of his cup. He presses his hands together and prays that the other find whatever he was searching for.

When Souji returns alone the other day and asked him about yesterday's strange incident, he shook his head and refused to answer. When the other insisted, he pulled him down for a kiss that tastes of two parts apology and one part bitter coffee and unshed tears. 

Souji never pries about it again after that. He knew better to open up secrets that were never his to open in the first place.


	5. Lodestones Are To Guide The Way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once upon a time, the stars were the guide of sailors. Souji reflects on his two stars on the day of that lovers' meeting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes! This chapter, why…? It was as reluctant to come out as a finger swollen around a tiny, tiny hole.
> 
> I have a feeling my muses hate me.
> 
> Usual disclaimers ahoy! Please tell me what you think!

It was Hibiki's fourth year when the boy dragged both his adoptive parents out to celebrate Tanabata, on the pretext of splashing in the rain with his two favourite people.

He whined and begged and pleaded with Souji as he was bundled up in a raincoat and boots and hat, impatiently hopping on his toes as the officer made sure he was adequately waterproofed. 

The boy quiets down at Souji's insistent but silent warnings about being on his best behaviour before they fetched Minato from his Room.

Hibiki remained a model of obedience, except for a few instances where he could not hold himself back from stomping on a few puddles along the way. Souji decides to let him have his fun and ignores it.

Minato was waiting for them in the Velvet Room, dressed for the rainy weather in cool swathes of blue. Hibiki had immediately tackled him about the waist, his bunny-eared hood fluttering behind him like the ends of a particularly long pair of pigtails. Souji laughs and moves to pull the both of them into a hug, earning a round of protests and a squeak of embarrassment from the boy sandwiched between him and his dark-haired lover as he leaned in for a kiss.

Minato takes all of this in good humour, swatting Souji on the shoulder and admonishing the two of them as he adjusts the lapels of his coat. Hibiki takes both their hands and whines about enjoying the festival before it got dark.

Souji becomes the designated umbrella holder due to his height, and he and Minato laugh as the light drizzle soak into the spots of their backs and shoulders where the umbrella's protective cover failed to shield their tightly-huddled forms. The little boy between them fails to take notice of this, infinitely more interested in the colourful display of food, yukata, and paper decorations. Souji loses a few yen to some of the games, as Hibiki's enthusiastic cheering breaks through his concentration. Minato watches this all with his usual amusement.

The light drizzle soon turns into a downpour, sending festival goers into the dry safety of the shops or awnings. Their little group gets trapped under the shelter of a gazebo, with Hibiki lamenting about the loss of the colourful tanzaku and the origami hung up on windows and shop stalls. 

Minato gathers the boy in his arms, and tells him the story of two lovers separated by the rushing tides of the Milky Way's waters. Hibiki squints up at the grey sky and feels saddened by the fact that Orihime and Hikoboshi cannot meet this year.

Souji sits beside them, watching the two of them look out at the rain-drenched landscape. The similarity in their appearance strikes him; this close together, Hibiki and Minato look more to be brothers. He wonders what he looks like beside them, and the thought hurts.

He and Hibiki would continue on with their lives while Minato will be left behind, only able to catch a glimpse of the world outside as it leaves him behind with the passage of time.

Souji remembers the first time he had with this beautiful boy with his old eyes, and had to look away to stare at the rain. Minato barely looked a day older than that first meeting, when he was in truth a year older than he was; he would stay seventeen and eternal inside his little gilded cage tucked away in the infinite cosmos while his son and lover would not.

Was this what Hikoboshi and Orihime felt, separated by the fording stream of the Amanogawa whose shores flowed with opposing currents?

Souji starts when a hand tugged at his sleeve, and he looks down to meet bright blue eyes; Hibiki had taken a hold of his coat and was now telling him that it was time to go home. Apparently, the rain had let up while he was lost in his thoughts.

The three of them returned to the Velvet Room to drop Minato off, and if he noticed a change in his lover's demeanour or if his parting hug was a tad longer than usual, he made no comment about it. Souji was grateful for this.

Hibiki insists that they make tanzaku to hang on Souji's houseplant when they get back to their apartment, and the two of them set to work on scraps of construction paper and yarn while the hotpot heats up. Hibiki makes two, saying that the other one was for Minato, and Souji only laughs and nods as he ruffled his dark hair.

Later on as the sky cleared and the stars were visible outside their window, Souji holds Hibiki in his lap and silently thinks that this boy shall be the magpie that will bring him to the other side as the expanse of that silver river reflects in wide blue eyes. Tomorrow, another pair of blue eyes will widen with that same expression of awe, and Souji will smile when Minato takes the silver ring now resting in a velvet box on his bedside table and agrees to be his guiding star—the Vega to his Altair—for the rest of his life.


	6. Peridots are for Voyages

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Souji gets the scruples about moving, and his boys are way more adventurous than he is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look at this. Wordfart in less than half an hour, wtf. I had a quarter of this on my phone, and then the muses suddenly struck. Why? Why do you wreck with my productivity, muses?
> 
> Anyway, same song and dance. Still unbetad, still don't own, carry on.
> 
> Also, please point out any mistakes, if you find any. Just posted this before I changed my mind and burned it.

"I want to study in Tokyo."

Souji looks up from his his bowl of ramen to blink owlishly at his son from across the table. "You want to what now?"

"I want to study in Tokyo," Hibiki repeats evenly with an almost off put manner, and Souji's hand twitches around his chopsticks. He fights back the urge to smile as he focused his gaze on the menma in his bowl. 

It looks like he needed to have a few words with Minato about what to teach and not to teach their kid.

"And why do you want to study in Tokyo?" He asks gently. The boy visibly steels himself with a squaring of small shoulders and a high jut of the chin, and Souji could not help but chuckle softly under his breath. The original owner of that look would be proud, he thinks.

"I want to. Papa-chan said that it's good for me to go back to my hometown," The child says with a matter-of-fact tone, and Souji fights not to choke on his own voice. "Papa-chan's been telling me about Shibuya, too. It sounds fascinating."

The policeman laces his fingers together and leans into his hands as he rests his elbows on the table; it was all he could do to hide his smile. "Well, Papa-chan is stuck in the middle of the infinite cosmos with shadows and himself for company; he's most likely just getting a really bad case of cabin fever," he points out. "Also, Papa-chan isn't the one who has to transfer for work. In fact, if we move, we're probably going to leave him behind, and he'll just be even more sad."

Hibiki tilts his head and blinks adorably in confusion. Souji steels himself against it; his little bastard son turning up the charm means he's starting to get serious. "But Souji-chichi…wasn't Uncle Dojima talking to you about a promotion last time he came here?"

Grey eyes narrowed slightly. "And just how did you know about that?" Souji asks cautiously. He was sure he hasn't told anyone about it yet, let alone discussed it with his son.

The boy just smiles brightly. "Oh, that. Papa-chan did a reading about a week ago."

Oh. Well, then.

Souji sighs, feeling backed into a corner. "Oh. Minato knew, huh." He murmurs, picking up his chopsticks. So much for it being a surprise, he thinks darkly as he picks at his ramen. The noodles had probably gone soft by now. He decides to blame the loss of his appetite on the thought of it.

 

"Well, are you turning it down?" Minato asks as he inhales another beef bowl. Souji decided to take him out to dinner in Tatsumi Port Island after his shift ended, Hibiki graciously being looked after by Nanako for the weekend. Somehow, their discussion led from one thing to another and try ended up talking about the ruined surprise. The taller man tried not to sound hurt as he tells him about it jokingly, but he knew that he wasn't fooling his husband. 

He shovelled another mouthful of food in response to his question instead. 

Minato sighs and briefly sets his chopsticks aside. "Souji, what are you worried about? You've been looking forward to this for years."

Souji takes the time to chew as he ponders the question. His partner was right—he had been looking forward to actually moving up the ladder for years now. A change of scenery would indeed be beneficial to him and his adopted son, not to mention that his blue-eyed angels brought up a good point about Hibiki growing up and seeing where he actually used to live.

So why was he stalling?

He slid his bowl away, turning his head to meet his love's eyes. It must be odd, he thinks, for people to see them sit side by side like this and talk like this. Minato certainly looked younger than him, at seventeen to his twenty-five, and society had their expectations. He certainly found it odd himself; here he was, deferring to someone who looked to be seven years his junior. It certainly felt like he was cradle-robbing.

Souji looked away. His thoughts were racing faster than he could keep track of.

"…I don't really know," he finally says, and isn't that the most of it? "Maybe it's because I'm uncomfortable with change. Maybe I have a deep Freudian secret that's holding me back. Does it really matter?"

"…No. No, it doesn't," Minato answers after a beat. "But it is making you stop going forward."

 

In the end, they moved. 

Souji boxes up the things he and Hibiki had accumulated over the past few years: books and toys and clothes all get sorted into boxes and kept careful inventory of with by an old notebook filled with lists. Hibiki's rabbit, the one Souji got for him the first few months, had a seat of honour on the boy's lap as Souji strapped them both down in the front seat of the truck he borrowed from Yosuke. His son behaved himself throughout the ride, humming a song his Papa-chan had taught him a while back.

Souji calms down at the sound. Hibiki had the right idea, even though Burn My Dread was a cheesy choice for driving music.

The apartment they moved into wasn't that much bigger than the last one they had; Souji picked it out simply because it was close to his new workplace and nearly a stone's throw away from Hibiki's new elementary school. Father and child had immediately set about putting aside boxes and bags, and for the moment both of them were satisfied. Souji finds the time to call Yosuke about returning his truck, as Hibiki made friends with a pretty calico that lived a few floors above them. And that evening, the two of them laid out Souji's large futon and settled right into bed. Souji had stayed up long after Hibiki had fallen asleep, looking up at the unfamiliar ceiling and listening to the sound of breathing.

Three months into their new life in Tokyo, and Souji finds himself wondering why he was worried at all.

Hibiki had taken to the big city like a duck to water. It hadn't been that long ago since the boy had a friend over for a play date—accompanied by a watchful Mrs. Shijima who was friendly and nice though her way of asking probing questions about his single parenthood left much to be desired—and his innocent happiness was infectious. He tells Minato about it during one of the older man's rare phone calls, and was immediately treated to bright laughter. Souji can't help but laugh along with him as the band of longing eases around his chest somewhat—he hasn't seen his husband in months and he missed him terribly. 

Five months in, he and Hibiki had settled into a routine. He worked irregular hours, but he manages to find time to pick Hibiki up from school and walk him home. Barring that, he at least made sure that there was food in the fridge and that he calls home every five on the dot to ascertain that his kid made it back safely. Saturdays and Sundays were laundry days, and a time to go out shopping. Oftentimes, they both ate out for dinner at one of the numerous eating establishments and they take turns flipping a coin for who gets to pick the restaurant; Souji often lost on purpose. 

Souji had become so comfortable with this that he ends up being surprised when a blue unmarked envelope came in the mail one day. 

There was a scrap of paper with an address written on it and a small Jack Frost keyring with a set of keys. One of them was a conspicuous purple-blue colour that radiated a calm aura of power. Souji sighs. His husband was up to his tricks again.

The address ended up being a two-storey house a few blocks away from the Shijimas, already fully furnished with tastefully modern fittings. Hibiki had instantly been distracted by the beautiful white upright set in one corner of the living room, while Souji's mind was elsewhere.

He had a feeling he knew where the odd key in the set went; there was a blue door sitting inconspicuously underneath the stairs where a broom closet would be.

Souji nearly shrieks with surprise when he opens the door. Minato only laughs at his plight, the bastard, and sets down his oni mask alongside the others on his table. "Good to see you got my letter."

The policeman takes a few seconds to calm his heart, before he notices what he was wearing.

"…Minato, did you bleach one of my uniforms?"

He nods, adjusting the cap on his head; Souji glares balefully at it and its whiteness. "I did. Fixed it up to my size, too. Do you like it?"

"…Why would you need a police officer's uniform?" Souji asks in exasperation. He had to admit, though, all that white looked good on the shorter man.

Minato hums, reaching for another mask to try on. The tengu's nose reminded Souji uncomfortably of Igor. "I wanted to play cops and robbers for a bit," He says in explanation. "Also, something is happening very soon here, I can feel it. I want to see it when it does."

Souji watched his husband for a moment; the Velvet Room had cast shadows on his form, and the elevator grate drew bars of light along the lean lines of his body. Souji bites back a comment about prisons and wardens to rearrange his thoughts. "…Minato, the house—"

"All under your name and the down payment taken care of. All you need to do is move in."

Souji blinks, baffled, before shaking his head and sending his Minato a smile. He opens his mouth to ask just how he managed to do all this, before closing it and nodding. He should've figured that there was just no winning against either one of his boys.

"Yeah, okay. I can do that."


	7. Opals are for Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stars mean many things. Souji prays that his is a beacon as the fated day arrives

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second to the last, guys! Almost done! Apologies for the wait. RL is kicking me hard. 
> 
> Unbetad, disclaimers, forge on!

"Souji-chichi, stop it. I'm not five."

"Stop whining and just let me finish."

Hibiki huffs and obediently stays still, head held high to expose his throat—and the ties to his hood his father was putting into a knot. Souji hums down at his handiwork, nodding, before attacking his son's curly mane with his fingers. The boy yelps and bats his hands away. "No! I brushed it, I brushed it! Stop messing it up!"

The older man laughs and ruffles his hair a little more, watching his son duck away from him with an unhappy pout. Hibiki attempts to get his hair back in order as he glared up at his old man. Souji grins back at the boy, unaffected.

"There. All set."

"Finally," Hibiki mutters. "Can I go now?"

Souji nods, and the teen dashes off in a blur of limbs, grabbing his things in a rush. He grabs his son's wrist as he makes to reach for his jacket, and he grins as Hibiki easily shook his hand off. The grin disappears with a mild grimace as the boy follows it up with a jab to the ribs.

Souji rubs his chest; he was proud of Hibiki eagerly learning whatever he or Minato taught him, but it also meant that his punches are starting to hurt less and less.

"Hey! Don't forget your bento!" He hollers after his boy as the kid ran out the door. Hibiki only waves behind him, hollering back.

"I love you! Kiss Papa-chan goodbye for me!"

Souji crosses his arms and rolls his eyes. He rolls his eyes harder at the soft laughter coming from the direction of the stairs, and he doesn't turn around when someone walks up to stand nearly shoulder to shoulder with him.

"He's your son through and through," Souji cannot help but mutter under his breath, and his companion laughs again. "Oh, I doubt that," the shorter man says. "I see more of you than me every time I look at him."

The police officer blinks down at his husband, who stares up at him. He saw his little boy's smile in the man's eyes, and he shook his head. "Touché."

Minato reaches up to adjust Souji's own tie, humming. "It's not so bad, is it?"

The taller man thinks about it. Thirteen years of raising a family with the man fiddling with the loop around his neck had been good to him in a way. He smiled at the memories, looking back down as Minato laid a hand on his chest.

"No. It isn't."

The shorter brunet nods. "Good to hear. Are you headed off now?"

"Yeah. I need to get going, or I'm going to get reamed a new one."

Minato laughs, leaning up to kiss him; his lips only reach until the jut of Souji's chin. "Well, then. I won't keep you. Take care, now."

He makes to leave, before being stopped by a firm hand on his back. Souji looks around, only to have a wrapped box thrust in his face.

"Don't forget your bento, darling. I trust Hibiki to feed himself when he wants to, but you always forget to eat."

Souji knows better than to argue, so he takes the package with a murmured farewell and a smile. 

 

Two cases in and a waist-high stack of paperwork later, and Souji decides to break for lunch. He ignores the slight jeering he gets from his office mates as he opens his lunchbox. He can't help but smile—Minato has always been good with a sword, but he can't properly cut vegetables for curry to save his life. He eats it anyway; it's still quite good.

Something niggles at him, however. As if something kept telling him something was going to horribly, horribly ruin his day. He quells it with another spicy bite of curry.

He checks his phone, and was startled by the number of calls his husband has sent him. He redials the number, bringing it up to his ear.

Minato picks up after the third ring. "Souji, skip third patrol today. Please."

Souji was so startled by the plea in his husband's voice that he was stunned speechless. He stares down at his mobile when the line went dead, baffled. His eyes caught sight of the charms both Minato and Hibiki had hung on it with a length of cord, and his stomach twists when he sees one particular ornament; a milk-white stone with a star-shaped inlay that swung like one of the pendulums Minato used for scrying.

He remembers that one conversation during spring with his lover all those years ago, and his heart starts to sink like lead.

It was time.

Souji licks dry lips, staring down at his half-eaten box of curry. He lifts another spoonful up to his lips, but he can barely taste it.

One of the officers notice his apprehension, and she approaches his desk with a smile. Souji sends another one back at her in reflex.

"Everything okay, Senpai?" She asks, and his smile falters. Souji makes the effort to nod to appease her; his innards felt like it was practically tying itself into a Windsor just trying to think about what will happen.

His fellow police officer nods back, still looking confused as he started to shovel down his lunch with more vehemence than necessary. One of the others joked at him and told him to slow down and enjoy his wife's cooking a bit more; Souji only tries to finish his food faster.

 

Souji was tempted to get angry when the first wave of earthquakes hit.

The station was one of the buildings which was nearly leveled to the ground—he managed to get away from being flattened like a proverbial pancake only by remaining at his post by the front desk. 

He squeezes out from under the small space between his desk and his swivel chair with shaking limbs. He takes in the destruction with wide eyes, and his quivering hands and knees nearly gave out from under him.

The third patrol's wagon lay in a smoking heap nearby, crushed by a caved-in piece of the station's roof.

Souji approaches it apprehensively, despite all the alarms going off inside his head. The strong stench of blood mingled in with the stronger odor of fire, smoke, and fuel, and he stops at a distance to throw up.

He closes his eyes against the tears. Crying won't make him feel better, knowing that he survived what others have not.

Souji finds the inner strength to straighten up from his hunch. He looks around; the destruction was widespread. Fear makes him reach for his phone—which stayed miraculously intact from the whole ordeal—and press the second number on his speed dial.

He curses and nearly throws the phone to the ground when the line remained dead. He should've known better than to get cell reception at a time like this.

He nearly drops the thing with surprise when Burn My Dread plays through its speakers. He fumbles with it, answering the call before the voice recording kicked in.

'Thank God,' Minato's voice sighs in audible relief, and Souji's heart skips a beat or two. 'Are you hurt? Souji, say something.'

The officer opens his mouth to answer—

_anger wars with trepidation in his gut; you knew, you knew this was going to happen_

—before sighing. "…I'm alright. But I can't contact Hibiki."

Minato hums worriedly, and guilt replaces anger in his heart; his husband was only doing what he believes will save the lives of the people he loved most, altruism and selfishness warring in him in the same way he knows the other is feeling. The greater good against the safety of the people closest to his heart—Souji knows deep down the answer inside him. He wasn't as self-sacrificing as his partner, but he has faced the truth multiple times. Or so he believes.

'There is a shrine of Inari nearby—I'll meet you there,' Minato calmly speaks into his ear, and he nods. The line goes dead and he pockets the phone, warily looking around.

The handle of a sword sticks out of a nearby display case as if in offering, and Souji carefully draws it out. No sooner has his fingers closed around the length of it, that he felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle. Souji swings the blade around, cutting through ectoplasm, and the monster screams. He fixes his stance—this was no different to the time he traveled a different dimension with his trusted group of friends.

Izanagi's divine lightning crackles along his katana, and he grins. The creature in front of him, a humanoid dog wearing armour (Kobold, his mind supplies), steps away from him warily. Souji shifts his grip and lunges, the sword leading the way.

The point sinks into flesh and bone with a satisfying slide. The Kobold howls with anger and pain, and something darkens in Souji's eyes. 

He growls, splitting the monster in two with a flick of his wrist.

 

Minato sits at the base of a sacred tree, leaning against the ropes lashed along its length. He thumbs the spine of the Compendium in his hands, and the energy at his back stops prickling at his skin. He sighs and opens the book.

This is how Souji finds him half an hour later—his nose buried in the Compendium's pages and the remains of monsters scattered around the tree in a macabre circle of blood, viscera, and gore. 

Minato looks up as his husband approached him. Dark eyes take in the soot-stained uniform and the shaded gaze, and he nods. The book snaps closed in his hand as he got up.

"This place isn't safe. We should move back," Minato says gently as he closed his fingers around his husband's sleeve. He tugs insistently as Souji shakes his head.

"Hibiki—"

"We cannot help him," Minato says. "You know full well that we can't intervene."

Souji stares into his love's eyes, and finds no window to the soul but a mirror. Reluctantly, he nods, and Minato visibly calms.

The taller man took point, his hand clenching around the hilt of his sword. Cool fingers gently squeeze his wrist in reassurance.

 

Souji silently allows his partner to lead him through to the nearest threshold, fighting off demons in their path. They stop to aid whomever they could along the way; people easily flock to Souji because of the uniform, and the duo try to help as many as they can. Minato drags him away with a gentle hold when they start to linger too long, and they continue to follow the current of magic that lay beneath the earth.

They were able to stop and rest as night fell; Minato finds a spot weak enough to open a way into his room in the middle of a deserted intersection, and both of them gratefully stumble inside. Souji collapses onto his knees as his exhaustion finally caught up with him, and strong hands gently pull him up to his feet.

Both of them half-stumble towards the couch, barely able to hold themselves up as they staggered on shaking limbs. They crumple onto it in a pile, leaning heavily into each other as they tried to catch their breaths.

Minato stirs as the Room shudders, and he blearily opens his eyes. Souji weakly curls up at his husband's side, too tired to stay awake.

The dark-haired man wraps himself around his younger lover as the elevator shudders to a stop and everything goes dark. His hand finds his husband's in the gloom, and he gently squeezes it as the darkness also takes his awareness.

The last thing he sees as he closed his eyes was the white gleam of the stone charm on Souji's phone, and he murmurs a prayer with his last breath.

 

Somewhere, Hibiki looks up at the sky outside the window. His fingers catch along the cords in his jacket, and he puts up his hood on a whim. He closes his eyes, thumbing the player in his pocket and the familiar chords of a piano reach his ears.

Determination fills him at the sound. It was his turn now; the hope placed on his shoulders was a heavy burden, but he will prove himself worthy of the trust.

After all, his parents have sacrificed so much so that they all could come this far. It is only fitting that he continue their legacy in pushing the world forward to a bright future.


	8. And we are Diamonds cut out from the rough

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hibiki relates his journey as it comes to a close.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *gross sobbing* At last. At last!
> 
> I finally finished something!
> 
> TTvTT
> 
> I'm so happy.
> 
> Again, disclaimers and stuff. Thank you for reading!

Hibiki's life ended during the accident.

It was a nightmare of a memory; the lights, the screech, the sounds. The sudden swerve off the road. The feel of weightlessness as the seatbelt snapped and tosses him around, gravity losing in the battle of survival. The darkness that comes afterwards. The silence.

He knew he was dead. And then, a voice.

_Do you want to live?_

He says yes.

And just like that, he is alive again.

His second life begins with a blur. Sirens, movement, words that mesh together unintelligibly. The mangled remains of the car he was pulled out of. The stench of blood. The feeling of detachment.

A miracle, he hears. Brake malfunction. Seatbelt snapping. Tossed out of the window.

A miracle indeed, the police say among themselves. He doesn't register any of it at all.

They bring him to the nearest station. They ask him questions he could hardly understand. He blinks back in answer—his throat had seized up, his tongue felt heavy in his mouth. Words are his enemy at the moment.

A kind officer with calm grey eyes take him by the hand and leads him out of the building. His hand was almost unbearably warm.

The man had a gentle voice to match his calm exterior, but Hibiki doesn't know how to answer him. So he doesn't. Eventually, the words die down between them.

The silence doesn't return, however.

There was no silence in the small apartment he was brought to. The food the officer—Souji, he said his name was Souji—makes him spoke volumes. There were whispers of affection in the corners of the man's grey eyes and the tilt of his mouth.

Hibiki marvels at the way he communicated without words.

And slowly but surely, the words came back to him as well.

When his voice came back to him, the first words from his lips were that of gratitude.

 

Souji takes him to meet someone just as he was learning to call him father.

The other man was a spot of quiet in the busy world around them, and his smile was as quiet as the blue he surrounds himself in. He hid behind Souji. Silence terrified him.

The other man laughs, and coaxes him closer with silent gestures. He offered him cake and tea and quiet companionship, and slowly, Hibiki learns to love silence again.

He watches the two older men interact with each other, and he understands—silence between them is never truly silent.

It is here he learns how to read between the lines.

Minato teaches him that silence is a friend, and that he can see the world if he knows how to walk hand and hand with it. He teaches him how to read the eddies and flows of time and the infinite future in the swirls of tea leaves and the shuffle of cards, and his eyes were opened to just how vast the world truly is.

With the two of them, he learns how to live again.

They teach him, how to fight and cook and learn and a myriad other things. Discussions with the two of them is never boring, and there is a wealth of knowledge to be gained; they are intellectuals and dreamers and philosophers, always thinking of the simple complexities. He learns how to brawl and make soufflé and play the piano throughout the years, and he kept learning more.

Then they move to Tokyo, and he gains friends. His world expands.

With a blink of an eye, he is already a young man.

He watches his chichi—Souji—and knows he is proud. It is evident in his gaze and his gestures and the way he pats his head and makes his lunch. His Papa—Minato—is no different. There was approval and love in the smallest of things; it was in his beloved handmade jacket, in the music they play together, in his silent encouragement.

Hibiki has found a family in them, and his heart overflows.

 

Then, on an ordinary day, the world stops turning.

The quake. The flicker of lights. The screams. And then the train comes crashing down.

And the voice comes, but it was a different voice this time.

_Do you want to live?_

In another time, he would have said no. He would have let it end there. He was tired, and he had lived longer than he was supposed to.

This time he answers the question with annoyance.

_(Stop asking me stupid questions.) **Don't be ridiculous.'**_

_(You know what my answer is going to be.)_

The voice laughs, and it was the first voice, the one that asked him the first time. A face flashed in his subconscious, and it was almost like looking in a mirror.

He wished he could lift his hand to paw at his cheek—he doesn't remember getting a beauty mark under his right eye.

The figure nods, before the darkness claims him. And then, a small flicker of light.

It was his phone.

Then the darkness recedes, and the nightmare began.

He knows somehow in his heart that no one made it. He knows that in the end, he was the last one standing.

It reminds him of Minato.

That feeling made him strive to keep everyone alive

He thinks Alcor knows—there was a glint in his eye whenever they talk. It makes him second guess himself at times, and he wishes he could consult the cards to get his thoughts in order.

 

In the end, he starts off alone.

He remembers the infinite paths he had taken, and all the actions he had done. He has read the weave of the fabric of the universe, and he has seen the outcome of this leg of his journey.

So he sets home.

He fumbles with his keys, the set jangling noisily on his Jack Frost keyring. It takes him three tries to get the front door to open—the hinges need oiling soon. The key catches in the lock.

The house was empty.

He walks around. There was his beloved stuffed rabbit from eons ago, its blue fur patched and worn with age. His comics line the shelves alongside his father's collection of cookbooks and their set of music books, and an entire wall was decorated with a multitude of weapons both ornamental and deadly. He runs a finger along the length of one of the short swords—the blade still holds its edge. The piano was still in tune, and he absently ran his fingers across the keys.

Everything was in place, but he can't shake the feeling of emptiness. It felt as if their home had not been occupied in a very long time.

He flicks through his keys, catching the last one of the set. The key never failed to warm his hand, and he closed his fist around it. In a blink, he was in front of the wall under the stairs. He opens his palm, and hesitates.

Should he open the door?

Hibiki smiles. The choice was made. He slides the key into the lock, and it catches with a click. The door opens.

"I'm home," He calls, sliding through the door. It clicks shut behind him, and the world returns to its axis.


End file.
